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Bearcats Breakfast 1.11.12

It's been great having the Ballin is a Habit guys in town. After taking in the watch party on Monday, we sat down for a lunchtime podcast at Montgomery Inn yesterday. You can listen to the podcast here.

I've claimed since posting my first blog here that my goal is to make you feel like through the content I put up here, you feel like you are on the Bearcats beat as well. I want it to feel like you understand all the sights, sounds, notes and quotes we hear. Nothing brings that more than essentially sitting down to lunch with us as we BS about basketball and their road trip.

Hope you enjoy it as much as Rob and Troy did the ribs. Though, that may be impossible.

Let's eat...--- Saturday's doubleheader of the UC men hosting Villanova at noon then UC women hosting Notre Dame after is being dubbed a Ring of Red game. So everybody remember to wear red.

Hopefully it doesn't match the color of Mick Cronin's face if his team continues to the ugly trend of losing early afternoon games. The more I think about the 19-5 after 2 p.m. against high major teams and 1-6 prior to 2 p.m. stat, the more my jaw drops.

--- Mike DeCourcy wrote about Mick Cronin's endgame strategy Monday night where he essentially "iced his own shooter." Great analysis of Cronin's desire to avoid any craziness that happens across the country on a nightly basis.

"Sometimes you have the one game a year, you can't really explain why it happens. You just have to get on to the next game."

Cronin and the Bearcats did that well at Georgetown. --- A question that came up in yesterday's podcast was, who is the second-best team in the Big East?

UC can make a legitimate claim on the spot right now. Hard to believe we're saying that, but take a look at the competition.

Cincinnati (3-1): One loss in conference with road wins at Pitt and Georgetown under their belt. Seton Hall (4-1): They are 4-1 with double-digit wins against West Virginia and UConn. Their four BE wins have come by an average of 16 points. But, let's be honest, it's still Seton Hall. Should we be believers yet?

Notre Dame (3-1): They are 3-1, but they are lacking in many areas, plus UC beat them handily by 16.

UConn (3-2): Who exactly have they beaten? Packed with preseason pub they have the capability to become an elite team, but for now, they are living off of wins against Harvard and Florida State while losing to Rutgers and the Hall.

Georgetown (3-2): Sure, but, well, there was Monday.

West Virginia (3-2): They're offense is reliant on two players, but they are in the conversation. Will be a fun game in Morgantown on Jan. 21.Marquette (1-2): They've lost four of six.

Louisville (1-3): Dumpster fire right now.

Looking at the current layout, UC and Seton Hall are battling it out for the second-best team (everybody had that prediction in November, right?). What does that mean in the long run? Absolutely nothing, but it's fun to consider where this team could stand in March.--- Eammon Brennan at ESPNbriefly broached this exact topic with UC/Seton Hall leading the conversation. --- Remember, the Big Monday Big Head Initiative is underway. Get your big heads and bring them in for the Jan 23 game against Cuse. I had a few more suggestions come my way from a source close to the Syracuse fan base.

Former Richmond coach Dick Tarrant (dating back to 1984 might push the Big Head demo, but will definitely dig at longtime Cuse fans)

--- Bearcats Blog, Down the Drive and Bearcats Nation conducted a Roundtable on the conclusion of the football season. They allowed their awards for offensive player of the year, defensive player of the year, best hit, etc.

There was no category for best GoBearcats.com blogger/reporter, Scott didn't even invite me to participate and also didn't show up at the Bearcats watch party. There may be dissension among the ranks here.

Names like Isaiah Pead, Zach Collaros, Derek Wolfe and JK Schaffer will be replaced with names like Jameel Poteat, Munchie Legaux, Jordan Stepp and Nick Temple. They'll need to prove the belong before they're given much credit.